Motorcyclist Loses a Leg on Freeway

A noontime freeway accident in Buena Park Monday left a motorcyclist with a severed leg and a motorist with minor injuries, the California Highway Patrol said.

Charles Lagasse, 30, of Long Beach was in serious but stable condition at UCI Medical Center in Orange, CHP spokesman Michael Lundquist said. He said Lagasse lost the lower part of his right leg in the 11:50 a.m. crash.

The collision occurred on the westbound Riverside Freeway near the Beach Boulevard off-ramp, Lundquist said, when a car driven by Kathleen Driskell, 63, sideswiped a semi-trailer rig.

The semi swerved and jackknifed across the freeway into the lane where Lagasse was traveling, Lundquist said. He said the motorcycle struck the truck's bumper and Lagasse was thrown into the center divider. The trucker was not hurt.

Driskell, whose car plunged down an embankment, was treated for minor injuries.